Delectable Mango Tart

So this is going to be a no-frills recipe post, minus the video (maybe at a later time) or step by step tutorial pics. It just needs to go up because I’ve got too many requests to get this in before Eid for me to ignore. So the hot summer time always always means mango season for us in Pakistan and most of South Asia. Only the intense sunshine and heat can properly ripen the King of Fruits and the Fruit of Kings to its true sweet potency. If you noticed I had a mango ice cream recipe (with video) up last year, so keeping up with tradition, I bring you this beautiful and equally delicious mango tart! This will certainly be on your Eid dessert table this year.

So to be honest, I got inspiration for this recipe from social media. Rafhan is a local manufacturer of custard and jelly mixes. A bunch of instagrammers were posting delightful images of this dessert they made using a baked crust, filling it with Rafhan mango custard and topping it off with fresh mangos. It really had me craving to make my own. Now if you know me, I am certainly not against using shortcuts to make life easier, but there’s something to be said about custard (cake or ice cream for that matter, that’s made entirely from scratch.) I’m honestly not the biggest fan of Rafhan custard flavors and decided I want to recreate this dessert using my own from scratch recipe. Moreover, I want to make it a no-bake dessert. Not everyone wants to bake in this 50 degree weather (I exaggerate but it’s not too far off)

Now, lean in because I’m going to let you in on a little secret… Experimentation in the kitchen is something I highly recommend. With Ramadan visiting us, it was only natural for our household to have packets of the powdery, sugary drink known as Tang. Yes, not the healthiest, but honestly which Pakistani household thinks of healthy during Ramadan 😛 ?

SO, in addition to my regular digestive biscuits plus butter, I added a spoonful of Mango Tang, instead of sugar and a small pack of lemon creme sandwich biscuits, just for an added zing. Now, while this is completely optional, I HIGHLY recommend it. The taste is just so subtle but adds a perfect extra dimension to the entire dessert. Again, if you enjoy the subtleties in life, I would certainly recommend you not miss this step.

The mango flower decoration part on top is definitely the most tedious part of the entire process. I basically peeled the mango, cut off long strips of it as thinly as possible. And then you just start from the middle and place them in a spiral, overlapping each new one over the previous one. Push it to fan out a bit to resemble a blooming flower. It seems difficult but trust me, perfection is not necessary. It will look pretty regardless.

Now, enough talk. Lets move on to the recipe shall we?

Ingredients:

Base

10-12 Digestive biscuits (When crushed this is about 1.5 cup)

6-8 Lemon Creme sandwich biscuits (optional)

1 Tbsp Mango Tang Powder (optional)

1/4 cup butter, melted

Custard Filling:

3 egg yolks

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

30 ml or 1/8 cup condensed milk

200 ml cream

250 ml or 1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla essence

2 Tbsp corn flour/starch

Topping

2-3 large mangos, peeled and sliced thinly lengthwise

Method:

1. First thing you need to do is if you want to save your springform tin or tart pan with a removable bottom, is to wrap the bottom in foil and then set it back into place. Just trust me on this.

2. Next, you could do this by hand but it’s so much easier and faster to use a food processor. Dump all your cookies and Tang powder, give it a couple of blitzes to crumble. Once it’s all crushed up, add your melted butter and blitz again to incorporate.

3. Press the cookie crumbs in to your pan, pressing it up to the sides evenly, and put the pan in the freezer for it to set while you prepare the rest.

4. In a large saucepan, add the condensed milk, milk, cream and vanilla. Put it on a low heat and bring to a hot simmer, no need to boil it. Make sure all ingredients are mixed well. Take off heat and put to side.

5. In a mixing bowl, whisk your egg yolks and sugar until a light yellow color. Gradually add the corn flour one spoon at a time and beat well.

6. Making sure your milk cream mixture is not too hot, since you don’t want to scramble your yolks, slowly add it to the eggs and mix well. Once its all combined, pour the liquid back in the saucepan and put it back on the stove.

7. You want to stir constantly on a medium low heat, as it thickens. You have to make sure the taste of raw flour goes away. Once you get it bubbling and the custard has thickened, remove it immediately. Bring to room temperature before placing a plastic cling wrap touching the top of the custard so a skin doesn’t form. Place in the fridge to cool completely. (At least 2-3 hours)

8. To assemble, slather the custard on the biscuit base. Peel and slice thing lengths of the mango and starting form the middle spiral them outwards, overlapping one another to mimic rose petals. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.